Apologies to those of you who have had to wait for "the sequel at the cabin." Well, I finally got around to posting it. Enjoy!
In his room in the early morning of the day, Percy Jackson yawned and stretched his arms. He stood, shirtless, in front of his open closet doors. The window to his room was cracked open, letting in a cool, fresh, ocean breeze.
That's right. He was at the beach. This was his second day here, with his girlfriend, Annabeth, and his stepdad, Paul. Percy cringed, remembering how hard it had been to convince his mom and Paul to let Annabeth come along; first he'd been grilled on how she was not to sleep in his room, they couldn't talk all night and had to get to bed at a reasonable time; his mom had also worried that with another demigod along, they might attract monsters. But Percy reasoned that they could hardly say no; he'd practically already promised Annabeth she could come.
Finally, his mom had agreed. Paul was still a bit iffy about it. Okay, he was really iffy. He'd even made Percy sit in the passenger seat of the car when they'd drove to the beach yesterday, and Annabeth in the back—Paul had acted like he was doing her some favor. "You get the whole backseat to yourself," he'd winked at her, and all Percy could do was glare.
And last night. Oh, gods, last night.
Annabeth had been tired from staying up late the night before; she'd told Percy "from studying for a test." Percy had blinked a few times before replying, "Um, we're, like, on winter break. We've finally got a week away from school. Why on earth would you be studying for a test?"
"It's not likeI don't enjoy doing it, Seaweed Brain," she'd told him, and playfully punched him. "Some of us actually do like school."
Anyway, Annabeth had complained of a headache after dinner. She said she wasn't feeling well, so Paul agreed he and Percy wouldn't mind if she went to bed early.
After dinner, Percy went to bed himself, just taking off his shirt and climbing on top of the sheets; it was hot enough to sleep without covers.
A little after ten, just when Percy was about to fall asleep, Annabeth had come into his room, startling him and scaring the Hades out of him.
"Percy?" she'd whispered.
"Um—uh, why are you in my room?" Percy had stammered, fumbling for a shirt.
"I can't sleep," Annabeth complained, and she came to sit on his bed. "Can you give me a massage?"
So she lay down on his bed and he'd gently massaged her aching back. Percy marveled at her back—it was tiny and smooth, but strong. And pretty soon he forgot he wasn't wearing a shirt. It was too dark in the room to tell, anyway.
Afterward, Annabeth had thanked him by pulling him down on the bed with her and kissing him. Did Paul have to take that moment to walk into the bedroom to ask Percy if he'd seen his reading light? And Percy was still shirtless . . .
Yeah, it hadn't been good.
Suddenly Percy heard a knock on his bedroom door. He quickly turned to face the long oval mirror on the wall and snatched a shirt off the ground and slipped it over his head, then walked to his door and opened it.
It was Annabeth.
"Hey," she greeted him.
"Hey. I'm surprised you're even allowed to see me, considering Paul . . ."
"Yeah."
Ugh. So she remembered. Percy had sort of been hoping it had all been a bad dream. Man, Paul had been mad . . .
Annabeth cleared her throat. "I thought you might want to take a walk on the beach with me."
"What! I haven't even eaten breakfast yet," Percy complained.
"You can grab some cereal."
"I'm on vacation. I want some real breakfast. You can make, like, bacon and eggs or something, right?"
"Percy! I am not making breakfast for you."
"Why not? I'm your adorable boyfriend, and girls are supposed to know how to cook, right?"
Annabeth crossed her arms and glared at him.
"Hey, don't get all feminist on me—"
"Paul's still sleeping . . ." she interrupted him.
Percy took the hint.
"Oh. Okay." He shuffled his feet, then cleared his throat. "Are we just going for a walk, or . . . ?"
"I'd put your swim trunks on."
"Got it."
Annabeth shut the door, and Percy couldn't help admiring her bluntness. She always seemed to have everything carefully planned and under control.
He quickly changed, then went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and comb his hair (which was pretty unattainable, but it was worth making an effort for Annabeth). Once he was finished, he went to the kitchen, where his self-management was rewarded with a kiss on the cheek from Annabeth, and a bowl of cereal she'd readied for him herself (shocking).
"I thought you wouldn't make breakfast for me," Percy teased, sitting down and quickly spooning cereal and milk down his throat.
Annabeth scowled. "It's cereal, Seaweed Brain, not bacon and eggs. That is one thing I will not do for you, is cook. Pouring some cheerios and milk into a bowl doesn't exactly qualify as cooking, I think." She turned around so her back was facing him and began doing something in the sink.
Percy smirked and shoveled the last bite of Annabeth's hard-labored, sweat-and-tears-made breakfast for him into his mouth. "Yeah, right. You know what I think? I think there's more to this than meets the eye. I think—" He gasped, and his hands flew to his mouth in fake-shock "—that you can't cook!"
Annabeth didn't reply, so Percy stood up quickly and put his bowl and spoon in the sink, then hugged Annabeth's waist from behind, and kissed the top of her curly head. Annabeth scowled. She must not be too made at him, then, Percy reasoned, if she was only scowling.
"Ready for that walk?" he mumbled into her hair.
"You betcha."
They grabbed a beach ball (Annabeth said she wanted to play in the waves, even though Percy warned her the water was cold at this time of year, and he was not drying her with his water powers after she was being so mean to him), a couple of towels (just in case; Percy pointed out that he wouldn't need one), and a cream-colored sweater for Annabeth (it wasn't summer, after all, she muttered; Percy told her that her red one looked cuter on her, and she hit him and told him to shut up).
Outside, Percy was surprised by how warm it was. He and Annabeth walked along the sand, the sun glinting off her golden head. Maybe a swim wouldn't be such a bad idea after all.
His mind was quickly settled (NOT a good idea to go swimming in the sea in winter) when they jumped in the water and Percy nearly drowned from the shock of the cold. Annabeth was paralyzed for a moment, too—which gave Percy the sneaky advantage to dunk her head under the water.
Percy half expected his girlfriend to rise up encased in an ice block, but she was okay—just really, really mad.
"PERSEUS JACKSON, YOU!" she roared.
Percy was so busy laughing he didn't notice he'd got dunked in return until the shocking cold met his ears.
He came up quickly, and shoved Annabeth's head under so fast she lost hold of the beach ball, which Percy had to swim after (yeah, he left his girlfriend to go after a beach ball). Annabeth grabbed his feet as he swam away, laughing, trying to pull him under.
"Hey, do you want the ball or not?" Percy grinned at her.
He wasn't feeling so cold now, after all that dunking and playing around. Or maybe he was just so numb his nerves had frozen . . .
He caught up with the ball, and tossed it to Annabeth, whose reflexes were quick (he'd always known), but she bounced the ball back so fast it hit him in the head and he was knocked backward into the waves (good thing he could breathe underwater). Percy didn't mind so much, though; he stayed underwater for a while, trying to make Annabeth nervous, as if he'd got knocked unconscious from the hit. Apparently she took the bait, because the next thing Percy knew, a pair of arms were hauling him upward.
Percy grabbed the beach ball, which was bobbing around on top of the water. When he resurfaced with Annabeth, he bonked the ball on top of her head (gently, though; he didn't want an unconscious girl on his hands), and she gasped and grinned before shoving him back under.
They played ruffians like this for a while, laughing and getting dunked. Percy was having such a good time that he didn't notice a certain quietness as he dived after the beach ball for the hundredth time.
Annabeth's laughter had stopped.
Percy's back was to her, trying to pick some seaweed off of his arm, and as soon as he noticed the quiet, his shoulders tensed.
The beach ball was right in front of him, but he abandoned it and whirled back around to face his girlfriend.
But only the waves, so ice-cold white froth coated the tops of them, greeted him
Annabeth had disappeared.